Whittle Shortline
Encyclopedia
History
During the mid-1990s, former US Air Force pilot Mike Whitworth received a compound mitre saw as a gift from his wife, ostensibly for doing home improvementHome improvement
Home improvement, home renovation or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home.-Types of home improvement:...
projects.
The saw sat unused for almost two years, when Whitworth got the inspiration to produce toy trains for friends and family. By 1997, word of his craftsmanship had reached local retailers, who in turn asked that he make the wooden trains on a professional basis.
In 1999 the production moved from the family home some miles to the historic building of the Frisco Hotel in Valley Park
Valley Park, Missouri
Valley Park is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 6,942 at the 2010 census.-History:The town was a Mississippian Indian settlement along the Meramec River as early as the mid-18th century, until it was settled by French and German immigrant farmers in the 1760s...
, a suburb of St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. By 2005 most of the production was moved north to the city of Louisiana, Missouri.
In the recent wake of the recalls
2007 Chinese export recalls
In 2007 a series of product recalls and import bans were imposed by the product safety institutions of the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand against products manufactured in and exported from the mainland of the People's Republic of China because of numerous...
of many Chinese-made consumer goods (including toys), Whittle Shortline have seen a heightening of interest in their products.
Products
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s couple
Coupling (railway)
A coupling is a mechanism for connecting rolling stock in a train. The design of the coupler is standard, and is almost as important as the railway gauge, since flexibility and convenience are maximised if all rolling stock can be coupled together.The equipment that connects the couplings to the...
together using small magnet
Magnet
A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.A permanent magnet is an object...
s, and are easy to manipulate. Whittle Shortline differ from their peers in that most of their trains are patterned from prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n railroad equipment. The company proudly state their products as being 'Made in the USA'.
The high quality woods used make Whittle Shortline toys more expensive than many other brands that use the same type of track. However, they are compatible with brands such as BRIO
BRIO
BRIO is a wooden toy company founded in Sweden. The company was founded in the small town of Boalt, Scania in 1884 by basket maker Ivar Bengtsson For a long time the company was based in Osby, Scania, in southern Sweden. In 1908 Ivar's three sons took over and founded BRIO, which is an acronym for...
.
Aside from their standard line of wooden trains, Whittle Shortline also offer special versions of their toys.
Holiday car series
Each year since 2002, the company has offered a freight car decorated in a colorful holidayHoliday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
theme aimed at collectors. Typically featuring a boxcar
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
, although the 2002 and 2005 release saw a gift-adorned flatcar
Flatcar
A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads...
and hot cocoa-themed tanker car
Tank car
A tank car is a type of railroad rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.-Timeline:...
, respectively.
The Little Engine That Could
The Little Engine That Could
The Little Engine that Could is a children's story that appeared in the United States of America. The book is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work...
, as a domestic alternative to Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine
Thomas the Tank Engine is a fictional steam locomotive in The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son, Christopher. He became the most popular character in the series, and the accompanying television spin-off series, Thomas and Friends.Thomas is a tank engine, painted blue...
.